Title of Unit: Night

The Research Process, Screenwriting And Night Stage 1: Topic, Learning Targets, and Essential Questions

Dates:

 January 4 – February 22

Unit Topics:

 Part I: The Research Process and The Holocaust  Part II: Night and Screenplay Writing/Filmmaking

Guiding/Essential Questions:

 How does the concept of human resilience reflect the capabilities of some humans to adapt and overcome risk and adversity?  How do the concepts of memory and remembrance help humans overcome tragedy?

Long-Term and Supporting Targets:

Part I:  Target One: I can initiate inquiry and gather information

o Objectives:

. I can determine what I want to know about a topic and can develop inquiry questions that I will investigate. . I can find and take notes on sources that will help me answer my inquiry questions and help me to define the scope of my investigation.

 Target Two: I can deepen my understanding and finalize inquiry.

o Objectives:

. I can analyze key sources to deepen my understanding and to answer my inquiry questions. . I can synthesize my information to determine what I have learned and what more I need to know about my area of investigation. . I can use research skills to communicate my research visually.

 Target Three: I can develop and communicate an Evidence-Based Perspective visually.

o Objectives: . I can review and synthesize my research to develop and communicate an evidence-based perspective (info graphic) on the area of investigation. . I can evaluate infographics for the rhetorical triangle. . I can use attributions instead of or with in-text citations.

Part II: 2  Target One: I can read closely and use a variety of strategies to make sense of key ideas and details presented in a text.

o Objectives:

. I can cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text. . I can read closely to analyze the elements of a memoir (Truth, Theme, Voice, POV – First Person Narrative, Perception) . I can determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze in detail its development over the course of a text. . I can analyze how complex characters develop over the course of a text, interact with other characters, and advance the plot or develop the theme.

 Target Two: I can use knowledge of the structure and context of language to ac- quire, clarify, and appropriately use vocabulary.

o Objectives: . I can define and identify various forms of figurative language (e.g., simile, metaphor, hyperbole, personification, alliteration, ono- matopoeia). . I can recognize word relationships and use the relationships to fur- ther understand multiple words (e.g., sympathetic/apathetic). . I can recognize the difference between denotative meanings (all words have a dictionary definition) and connotative meanings (some words carry feeling).

 Target Three: I can compose a clear and coherent piece of writing (Screenplay) in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.

o Objectives:

. I can determine a writing format/style to fit my task (Screenplay Format). . I can write for a variety of reasons. (To Entertain/Convey an Expe- rience)

Understandings: Supporting Questions: Students will understand that…  Who deals with issues of Human Re- silience? *…genocide, wherever it happens, has  How do people persevere in the face of common themes. adversity? *…stories of individuals’ experience can  What are the causes and/or the ratio- illustrate historical moments and give the nale behind events such as the Holo- reader an opportunity to explore universal 3 themes such as resilience, genocide, survival, caust or other instances of genocide? and racism, etc.  Is it possible to stop being “human,” and if so, what determines this humani- Subjects/Themes: ty? When does it start/stop? What is  Intolerance the essential factor in being “human”?  Dehumanization (Simply: What makes us human vs.  Survival animal?)  Relationships  How does silence perpetuate violence?  Genocide  What is the importance of memory and  Faith remembrance in relation to genocide?  Memory  Loss of Innocence

Stage 2: Assessment Evidence/Task

Formative Assessments Culminating/Summative Assessment (learning task) Part I: Part I:

 Research Question  Infographic Projects: Students will, prior to reading Night, work individually  Working Bibliography to research a specific topic associated with the Holocaust. In addition, they will Part II: create an Infographic to visually illustrate their research.  Poem Analysis: Night Response Journaling; Student poems; Reflection Part II: on poems  Screenplay Project and Short Film:  Quote/Prompt Responses: Students Students will write a screenplay based will anayze specific quotes and will on a specific theme from Night or respond to specific prompts based on based upon one of the essential the quotes during their reading of questions. Night. Requirements:  Class Discussions/Analysis: Students will engage in class activities 1. Screenplay: and discussions requiring them to  Students will develop a screenplay analze writing style, character based upon a specific theme presented development, themes, plot, etc. in Night or based upon one of the essential questions.  Mentor Texts (Contemporary  The screenplay must emphasize the Genocide) concept of human resilience.

2. Outline:  Will include list/description of actors, locations, props, make-up, lighting, etc.

3. Storyboard:  Will include images of scene as well as breakdown of shots to be utilized.

4. Short Film:  Students will film their screenplay.

4. Presentation:  Students will present Short Film to the class. 4 The Holocaust

Essential Questions:

 How does the concept of human resilience reflect the capabilities of some humans to adapt and overcome risk and adversity?  How do the concepts of memory and remembrance help humans overcome tragedy?

Introduction: In this unit, you will learn about the many atrocities of the Holocaust. We will read Elie

Weisel’s Night as a class and will analyze various materials associated with the Holocaust. Prior to reading Night, you will work individually to research a specific topic associated with the Holocaust. In addition, you will create an Infographic to illustrate your research.

The Task: Individually, you will research a specific topic associated with the Holocaust. You will collect information, including data, to include in your Infographic. The purpose of the Infographic is to educate other students on the important details of the specific topic you are researching/analyzing. The

Infographic should be visually attractive and contain data as well as information gathered via research.

When your Infographic is complete, you will upload the final product on Blackboard and will engage in a group discussion on the site (this will be explained in detail prior to uploading the product).

5 You will need to complete the following:

1. An Infographic (Research/Quotes and Data – Citations Included!) 2. Upload the final Infographic on Blackboard. 3. Complete a Works Cited Page in MLA Format. 4. Engage in a group discussion on Blackboard.

The Process:

1. Follow the link(s) that will lead you to information pertaining to Infographics:

http://blog.kathyschrock.net/2014/01/addressing-ccss-with-use-of-infographics.html.

2. Using the Infographic Rubric provided, use the links provided to assess the quality of various In-

fographics. (Note: I will guide you to specific Infographics).

3. Select a topic and begin the research process. Develop inquiry questions pertaining to your topic.

a. Example Questions to help you gather data:

i. Why were the Jews Taken?

ii. How many Jews were taken? Where were they taken? Of that percentage, how

many made it out.

iii. What did the number of Jews taken increase at the end of the war?

iv. Who else was taken besides Jews?

v. Nazi Party: Why and how did they come into power?

4. Remember that some information will overlap with other individuals in your class. Try to find

information/data that is unique to your topic.

5. Don’t forget to cite your sources (MLA), take notes, and save your information as you go!!!

6. The guidelines for your Infographic can be found on the rubric provided.

 Infographic should be attractive and well thought out.

 Infographic should contain both research/quotes and data.

 You will submit a Works Cited with your Infographic.

6 Research Topics

 Propaganda During the Holocaust o United States Holocaust Memorial Museum – Propaganda page of the museum website. . http://www.ushmm.org/propaganda/ o Calvin College – Nazi Posters from 1933-1945, from the German Propaganda Archive. . http://bytwerk.com/gpa/posters2.htm

 Children of the Holocaust – Human Resilience o United States Holocaust Memorial Museum – Encyclopedia entry about children; use the “related links” to find out more. . http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005142#related o USC Shoah Foundation Institute – View several short Interviews of survivor’s accounts of what happened during the war. . http://sfi.usc.edu

 The Ghettos – Human Resilience o United States Holocaust Memorial Museum – Encyclopedia entry about Ghettos; use the “related links.” . http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005214 o Jewish Virtual Library – A collection of resources about a variety of Ghettos and other topics. . http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Holocaust/ghetto.html

 Concentration Camps – Human Resilience o United States Holocaust Memorial Museum – Encyclopedia entry about Dachau; use the “related links.” . http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005214 o PBS – Understanding Auschwitz; site that offers a map, timeline, and more. . http://www.pbs.org/auschwitz/

 Hitler’s Nazi Rule o History Channel – A portal to videos, speeches, photo galleries and more. . http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/adolf-hitler o Jewish Virtual Library – A wealth of primary resources related to Adolf Hitler. . http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Holocaust/hitlertoc.html

 Holocaust Survivors – Memory o United States Holocaust Memorial Museum – Liberation of Nazi camps with “related links” to other survival stories. . http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005131 o Telling their stories – A plethora of stories of Holocaust survivors and survivors of other atrocities. . http://www.tellingstories.org

 Opposition to the Holocaust (Heroes) – Human Resilience o United States Holocaust Memorial Museum – Information about Jewish Resistance with “related links.” . http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005213 o World Book Advanced – A searchable encyclopedia with many of the individuals highlighted in the Resistance. 7 . http://www.worldbookonline.com/advanced/home

Screenplay Project Directions: You will develop an original Short Film in screenplay format based upon a theme reflected in Night. Your script must emphasize the concept of human resilience or memory, and it must follow the specified format for screenwriting.

Project Requirements: 1. Outline: This will contain the following:

a. List/Description of Actors

b. List/Description of Setting/Locations to be filmed

c. Mise-en-Scene:

i. Costumes/Clothing Needed

ii. Lighting – What type of lighting are you going to emphasize? (Low-Key or High- Key)

iii. Makeup Needed

iv. Props (what will need)

v. Extras (Do you need extras in any scenes?)

2. Screenplay: Short Film – Must be a Minimum of 4 Pages.

3. Storyboard (Must be on Poster Board or PowerPoint): Your storyboard will contain images of your scene. For each section in your storyboard, you will describe the specific shot you take (long, medium, close-up), the camera angle (high, straight-on, low). Furthermore, you will describe all the elements placed before the camera (mise-en-scene): These elements include the sets, costumes, lighting, makeup, props, placement of objects and people, and the actor’s ges- tures and movements.

4. Presentation: You will present your screenplay and storyboard to the class or you will show your short film.

Point Distribution: 1. Outline: 35 Points

2. Screenplay: 60 Points

3. Story Board: 30 Points

4. Presentation: 20 Points

8 Due Dates

9 Notebook Prompts

Reading Night

Duration: 30-40 minutes per class over the course of up to ten class periods.

Materials needed: Notebook; Elie Wiesel’s Night; Schindler’s List

Key vocabulary: Essential questions, clarifying questions.

Addressing Essential Question(s):

 Who deals with issues of Human Resilience?  How do people persevere in the face of adversity?  What are the causes and/or the rationale behind events such as the Holocaust or other instances of genocide?  Is it possible to stop being “human,” and if so, what determines this humanity? When does it start/stop? What is the essential factor in being “human”? (Simply: What makes us human vs. animal?)  How does silence perpetuate violence?  What is the importance of memory and remembrance in relation to genocide?

Notebook Prompts Prior Possible Extension Topic Reading / or Activity Section 1 - “Each of us will be allowed to bring his personal pp. 3 - 22 Make Connections to belongings. A backpack, some food, a few items of previous Viewing activity – clothing” (14). What would you bring? Be thorough and review clarifying or thoughtful in your response. essential questions from Lesson #1 2 - Create a space roughly the size of a cattle car in your pp. 23-28 View the cattle car scene classroom. As students enter, direct them into this space. from Schindler’s List Reenact statement of German officer on page 24: “'There are eighty of you in the car… If anyone goes missing, Discuss you will all be shot like dogs.'” Wait two to five minutes, keeping students in confined space. Then have them take their seats and journal about what it felt like to be contained and to hear that statement from an authority figure, against their will.

Share and discuss. 3 - At the beginning of the third section, page 29, Wiesel pp. 29 – 46 finds out that the objects he was told he could carry were to be “left behind in the wagon.” Refer to prompt #1 and offer the prompt: Write about a time when you were disappointed, had something wrongly taken from you, or experienced a loss.

Share and discuss. 10 4 - Wiesel writes, “Never shall I forget that night, the first Pg. 34 night in the camp… Never shall I forget that smoke… Never shall I forget…” Taking the phrase, “Never shall I forget…,” students should write a minimum of five, “Never shall I forget….” These can be happy or challenging memories.

Students share at least one memory each. 5 - In the fourth section of Night, Wiesel himself is pp. 47 – 65 Address the Essential publicly beaten, and he describes witnessing the hangings Question – “What are the of multiple other prisoners in the camp. How is it circumstances that give rise possible that one group of people could do these things to to genocide?” Explore the another? Holocaust Timeline.

6 - As students enter the room at the beginning of class, pp. 66 - 84 point to five random students and have them sit in a special place in the classroom. Read a selection of the book aloud, but only allow students sitting with the majority to read from the text—the pre-identified five students should not be allowed to read. Once the reading is complete, have students respond in their journal about how it felt to be ‘selected’ into either situation.

Students from both sides share and discuss their journal responses. 7 - At the end of the sixth section, Wiesel and his father pp. 85 - 97 have survived and the liberating armies are following the Nazis and their prisoners. Yet it is snowing, they have very little food, and the Nazis are tense. What do you expect is going to happen and why? I.e., “______is going to happen in the end because ______.” 8 - When German citizens throw food to the starving pp. 98 - 103 Compact these three writing prisoners, Wiesel describes the Jews as they fought with prompts by assigning them each other over the food as “beasts of prey unleashed, as homework and using a animal hate in their eyes” (101). A son kills his father for Socratic Seminar to address a piece of bread on this same page. Do all humans have them in one or more class the capacity to commit atrocities? Is human nature periods. This would also be essentially good or evil? Give supporting examples from a good time to revisit the your own memory. essential questions. 9 - What do you think of Wiesel’s response, “Free at pp. 104 – last!” (112) when his father dies? Is this sensible or 112 terrible? Is there some guilt here as he admits to this? Explain. 10 - Wiesel describes himself as a “corpse” (115) in the pp. 104 - closing image of the memoir. Why this word? What is he 112 trying to say about himself, following his experience in the camps? How can he possibly go on and have a normal life?

11 Lesson: Poetry Springboards

Materials needed: Selection of poems from Art from the Ashes: A Holocaust Anthology (Lawrence Langer, ed.) and …I never saw another butterfly…: Children’s Drawings and Poems from Terezin Concentration Camp 1942-1944 (Hana Volavková, ed.)—included—in addition to envelopes and final reflection handout.

Key vocabulary: Poem, stanza, line

Addressing Essential Question(s):

 Who deals with issues of Human Resilience?  How do people persevere in the face of adversity?  What are the causes and/or the rationale behind events such as the Holocaust or other instances of genocide?  Is it possible to stop being “human,” and if so, what determines this humanity? When does it start/stop? What is the essential factor in being “human”? (Simply: What makes us human vs. animal?)  How does silence perpetuate violence?  What is the importance of memory and remembrance in relation to genocide?

Hook/Anticipatory Set: Each student is given a sealed envelope as s/he enters the classroom, asked to sit down, take out paper and something to write with, but NOT to open their envelope.

Steps/Procedures:

1. Students will receive envelopes and read their springboard lines to themselves. Inside the envelope is a strip of paper with a first line of a poem by someone who experienced the Holocaust.

2. Students will write a poem that begins with his or her “springboard.” The poems can be about anything the students choose, but the students must incorporate at least one stanza break, and have at least 14 lines in their poems.

3. Students will be provided with 20 minutes to write.

4. Students will share at least one line of their poems aloud.

5. Students will receive copies of the original poem of their “springboard,” and learn that these are poems of Holocaust victims. Volunteers will read the original poems for each springboard.

6. Students complete final reflection on their poem (see handout).

12 13 Springboards

Below are 18 first lines of poems to use as “springboards” for students’ poems. These lines are from Holocaust survivors’ and the children at Terezin’s poems. Many of these writers did not survive.

How and with what will you fill.

Caves, gape open,

Was it from some hunger

It is not just because my words quiver here in this carload

He stands, stamps a little in his boots,

Imaginary man, go. Here is your passport.

Ready for parting, as if my back were turned,

In the corner of time

14 If I only knew

Deserted here, the old house Stands in silence, asleep.

The heaviest wheel rolls across our foreheads To bury itself deep somewhere inside our memories.

Yes, that’s the way things are

The sun goes down and everything is silent.

I’d like to go away alone

Another day has gone for keeps Into the bottomless pit of time.

Here I sit on a rock In front of the campfire.

He doesn’t know the world at all Who stays in his nest and doesn’t go out.

15 Children’s Poems from Terezin Concentration Camp (1942-1944):

An Evening In Terezin

The sun goes down and everything is silent, only at the guard’s post are heavy footfalls heard.

That’s the guard who watches his Jews to make sure they don’t run away from the ghetto, or that an Aryan aunt or uncle doesn’t try to get in.

Ten o’clock strikes suddenly, and the windows of Dresden’s barracks darken. The women have a lot to talk about; they remember their homes, and dinners they made.

Then some of them argue. Others try to quiet them down. Finally, one by one, they grow silent; they toss and turn, and in the end, they fall asleep.

How many more evenings will we have to live like this? We do not know, only God knows.

-Eva Schulzová

16 Night In The Ghetto

Another day has gone for keeps Into the bottomless pit of time. Again it has wounded a man, held captive by his breathren. After dusk, he longs for bandages, For soft hands to shield his eyes From all the horrors that stare by day. But in the ghetto, darkness, too, is kind To weary eyes that all day long have had to watch.

Dawn crawls again along the ghetto streets Embracing all who walk this way. Only a car like a greeting from a long-gone world Gobbles up the dark with fiery eyes— That sweet darkness that falls upon the soul And heals those wounds illumined by the day… Along the streets come light and ranks of people Like a long black ribbon, loomed with gold.

-1943 Anonymous

17 Campfire (to Eva Landová)

Here I sit on a rock in the front of the campfire. One branch after another is snatched by the fire. Into the darkness the forest recedes.

Fire makes one reflect… Terezin is all I think about. But now memories gather ‘round me Like falling leaves.

Fall is here. The leaves turn yellow on the trees, the campfire dies out. My thoughts are far from here, somewhere far, where integrity lives.

It lives in my friends. Now I think of her. Memories gather ‘round me like the falling leaves.

-A. Lindtová

18 Terezín

We've suffered here more than enough, Here in this clot of grief and shame, Wanting a badge of blindness To be a proof for their own children.

A fourth year of waiting, like standing above a swamp From which any moment might gush forth a spring.

Meanwhile, the rivers flow another way, Another way, Not letting you die, not letting you live.

And the cannons don't scream and the guns don't bark And you don't see blood here. Nothing, only silent hunger. Children steal the bread here and ask and ask and ask And all would wish to sleep, keep silent, and just go to sleep again...

19 The Old House

Deserted here, the old house

stands in silence, asleep.

the old house used to be so nice,

before, standing there,

it was so nice.

Now it is deserted,

rotting in silence—

What a waste of houses,

a waste of hours.

Franta Bass

20 Yes, That’s The Way Things Are

In Terezin in the so-called park

A queer old granddad sits

Somewhere there in the so-called park.

He wears a beard down to his lap

And on his head, a little cap.

Hard crusts he crumbles in his gums,

He’s only got one single tooth.

My poor old man with working gums,

Instead of soft rolls, lentil soup.

My poor old graybeard!

Koleba (M. Kosek, H. Lowy, Bachner)

http://www.slideshare.net/aahelpdesk/holocaust-butterfly 21 Alena Synkova

I’d like to go away alone Where there are other, nicer people, Somewhere into the far unknown, There, where no one kills another.

Maybe more of us, a thousand strong, will reach this goal before too long.

22 Birdsong

He doesn’t know the world at all Who stays in his nest and doesn’t go out He doesn’t know what birds know best Nor what I want to sing about, That the world is full of loveliness.

When dewdrops sparkle in the grass And earth’s aflood with morning light, A blackbird sings upon a bush To greet the dawning after night. Then I know how fine it is to live.

Hey, try to open up your heart To beauty; go to the woods someday And weave a wreath of memory there. Then if the tears obscure your way You’ll know how wonderful it is To be alive.

-1941 Anonymous

23 Selection of poems from Art from the Ashes: A Holocaust Anthology . Ed. Lawrence L. Langer. New York: Oxford, 1995

24 How?

How and with what will you fill Your goblet on the day of Liberation? In your joy, are you ready to feel The dark screams of your past Where skulls of days congeal In a bottomless pit?

You will look for a key to fit Your jammed locks. Like bread you will bite the streets And think: better the past. And time will drill you quietly Like a cricket caught in a fist,

And your memory will be like An old buried city. Your eternal gaze will crawl Like a mole, like a mole—

-Abraham Sutzkever, Vilna Ghetto, Feb. 14, 1943

25 Grains of Wheat

Caves, gape open, Split open under my ax! Before the bullet hits me— I bring you gifts in sacks.

Old, blue pages, Purple traces on silver hair, Words on parchment, created Through thousands of years in despair.

As if protecting a baby I run, bearing Jewish words, I grope in every courtyard: The spirit won’t be murdered by the hordes.

I reach my arm into the bonfire And am happy: I got it, bravo! Mine are Amsterdam, Worms, Livorno, Madrid, and YIVO.*

How tormented am I by a page Carried off by the smoke and winds! Hidden poems come and choke me: —Hide us in your labyrinth!

And I dig and plant manuscripts, And if I by despair am beat, My mind recalls: Egypt, A tale about grains of wheat.

And I tell the tale to the stars: Once, a king at the Nile Built a pyramid—to rule After his death, in style.

Let them pour into my golden, Thus an order he hurled, Grains of wheat—a memory For this, the earthly world.

26 For nine thousand years have suns Changed in the desert their gait, Until the grains in the pyramid Were found after endless wait.

Nine thousand years have passed! But when the grains were sown— They blossomed in sunny stalks Row after row, full grown.

Perhaps these words will endure, And live to see the light loom— And in the destined hour Will unexpectedly bloom?

And like the primeval grain That turned into a stalk— The words will nourish, The words will belong To the people, in its eternal walk.

-Abraham Sutzkever, Vilna Ghetto, March 1943 *Jewish cultural centers—YIVO is the Jewish Scientific institute in Vilna, where Sutzkever worked before his internment.

27 For My Child

Was it from some hunger or from greater love— but your mother is a witness to this: I wanted to swallow you, my child, when I felt your tiny body losing its heat in my fingers as though I were pressing a warm glass of tea, feeling its passage to cold.

You’re no stranger, no guest, For on this earth one does not give birth to aliens. You reproduce yourself like a ring And the rings fit into chains.

My child, what else might I call you but: love. Even without that word that is who you are, you—seed of my every dream, hidden third one, who came from the world’s corner with the wonder of an unseen storm, you who brought, rushed two together to create you and rejoice:—

Why have you darkened creation with the shutting of your tiny eyes and left me begging outside in the snow swept world to which you have returned?

No cradle gave you pleasure whose rocking conceals in itself the pulse of the stars. Let the sun crumble like glass since you never beheld its light. That drop of poison extinguished your faith— you thought it was warm sweet milk. I wanted to swallow you, my child, To feel the taste 28 Of my anticipated future. Perhaps in my blood You will blossom as before.

But I am not worthy to be your grave. So I bequeath you To the summoning snow, The snow—my first respite, And you will sink Like a splinter of dusk Into its quiet depths And bear greetings from me To the frozen grasslands ahead—

-Abraham Sutzkever, Vilna Ghetto, January 18, 1943

29 Burnt Pearls

It is not just because my words quiver Like broken hands grasping for aid, Or that they sharpen themselves Like teeth on the prowl in darkness, That you, my written word, substitute for my world, Flare up the coals of my anger.

It is because your sounds glint like burnt pearls discovered in an extinguished pyre and no one—not even I—shredded by time can recognize the woman drenched in flame for all that remains of her now are those grey pearls smouldering in the ash.

-Abraham Sutzkever, Vilna Ghetto, July 28, 1943

30 Written in Pencil in the Sealed Railway-Car here in this carload I am eve with abel my son if you see my other son cain son of man tell him that I

-Dan Pagis

31 The Roll Call

He stands, stamps a little in his boots, rubs his hands. He’s cold in the morning breeze: A diligent angel, who worked hard for his promotions. Suddenly he thinks he’s made a mistake: all eyes, he counts again in the open notebook all the bodies waiting for him in the square, camp within camp: only I am not there, am not there, am a mistake, turn off my eyes, quickly, erase my shadow. I shall not want. The sum will be all right without me: here forever.

-Dan Pagis

32 Instructions for Crossing the Border

Imaginary man, go. Here is your passport. You are not allowed to remember. You have to match the description: Your eyes are already blue. Don’t escape with the sparks Inside the smokestack: You are a man, you sit in the train. Sit comfortably. You’ve got a decent coat now, A repaired body, a new name Ready in your throat. Go. You are not allowed to forget.

-Dan Pagis

33 Ready for Parting

Ready for parting, as if my back were turned, I see my dead come toward me, transparent and breathing. I do not consent: one walk around the square, one rain, and I am another, with imperfect rims, like clouds. Gray in the passing town, passing and glad, among transitory streetlamps, wearing my strangeness like a coat, I am free to stand with the people who stand at the opening of a moment in a chance doorway, anonymous as raindrops and, being strangers, near and flowing one into another.

Ready for parting, waiting a while for the signs of my life which appear in the chipped plaster and look out from the grimy windowpane. A surprise of roses. Bursting out and already future, twisted into its veins— a blossoming to every wind. Perhaps not in my own time into myself and from myself and onward from gate within gate I will go out into the jungle of rain, free to pass on like one who has tried his strength I will go out from the space in between as if from the walls of denial.

-Dan Pagis

34 In the Corner of Time

In the corner of time the alder revealed swears to itself in stillness, on the back of the earth, breadth of a handspan, squats the lung shot through, at the edge of fields the winged hour plucks the grain of snow from its eye of stone.

Streamers of light infect me. Flaws in the crown flicker.

-Paul Celan

35 If I Only Knew

If I only knew On what your last look rested. Was it a stone that had drunk So many last looks that they fell Blindly upon its blindness?

Or was it earch Enough to fill a shoe, And black already With so much parting And with so much killing?

Or was it your last road That brought you a farewell from all the roads You had walked?

A puddle, a bit of shining metal, Perhaps the buckle of your enemy’s belt, Or some other small augury Of heaven?

Or did this earth, Which lets no one depart unloved, Send you a bird-sign through the air, Reminding your soul that it quivered In the torment of its burnt body?

-Nelly Sachs

36 Springboard Poetry Reflection

1. What are five key words in the original poem that suggest what the author is writing about?

2. If you had to summarize the topic of the author’s poem, what would you say?

3. What are five key words in your own poem that suggest what the topic of your poem is?

4. If you had to summarize the topic of your poem, what would you say that it is?

5. Why do you think the authors wrote these poems? How are they related to Night?

6. Write at least one essential or clarifying question that you have, based on either the original poem or your poem.